First Niagara reaches target with sale of latest HSBC branches

First Niagara Bank N.A. said Friday it will sell 27 First Niagara and HSBC branches upstate to two other banking companies, which together with another sale announced last week, completes its divestiture following acquisition of HSBC’s retail banking operations upstate.

Community Bank N.A. is acquiring 16 HSBC branches and three First Niagara branches, while Five Star Bank N.A. is acquiring four HSBC and four First Niagara branches. None of the branches is in the Capital Region.

Last week First Niagara announced the sale of 37 HSBC branches to KeyBank, all of which were in central and western New York.

“Now having the targeted level of divestitures under contract, in addition to last month’s capital raise of $1.1 billion, we are able to move forward to complete the conversion of the HSBC branches with even more pace and a sharper focus,” said First Niagara President and CEO John R. Koelmel.